Bottle-handling mechanism



E. E. WINKLEY.

BOTTLE HANDLING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED APR.4I I9I4.

1,344,01 3. Patented June 22, 1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

I IEMMI M E. E. WINKLEY.

BOTTLE HANDLING MECHANISM.

APPLICATXON FILED APR. 4, 1914.

1 ,344,() 1 3 Patented June 22, 1920'.

3 SHEETSSHEET 2.

ll/ lI/ll I [II/[J \/\/ITNESSES E \NVENTOR E. E. WINKLEY.

BOTTLE HANDLING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 4, 1914.

1 ,344;,O 1 3 Patented June 22, 1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

:23 W E I llll lll ////&4// //V//////// /7//// ll] VVITNEESSES ENVENTOR UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EBASTUS E. WINKLEY, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS.

BOTTLE-HANDLING MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Original application filed February 24, 1913, Serial 120. 750,289. Divided and this application filed April 7 4, 1914. Serial No. 829,450.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ERASTUS E. WINKLEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lynn, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in BottleHan- (lling Mechanism; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

he present-invention relates to machines which are used in various industries for packaging beverages, such, for instance, as beer, milk, water and tonic, and more par ticularly to mechanism for handling bottles either before or after, or both beforeand after, the operation of the packager known as the capping machine.

Experience has demonstrated that beverages such as beer and ale are injured by the agitation they receive during the operathe bottles by agitation.

To the accomplishment of this object and such others as may hereinafter appear, as will readily be understood by those skilled .in the art, the features of the invention relate to certain devices, combinations and arrangements of parts, hereinafter described and then set forth broadly and in detail in the appended claims.'

The various features of the present invention will be best understood from an inspection of the accompanying. drawings, illustratingthe preferred embodiment of the invention, in which,

Figure 1 is a plan of the bottle handling machine Fig. 2 is a front elevation;

Fig. 3 is a sectional plan of the transferring device for transferring the bottles to the bottle supports;

Fig. 4 is a lan of the transferring device for transferring the bottles from-the bottle su ports to the runway; .and

- ig. 5 is a sectional elevation "on the line 5 5, Fig. 4..

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings the bottles to be capped are loaded, one by one upon a series of bottle supports 1 (Figs. 1 and 4) herein shown as four in number. Each support is mounted to reciprocate Vertically in a spider 2, (Fig. 1 which is carried by a rotating carrier ournaled upon a stationary shaft 4. During the rotation of the carrier the bottle supports are elevated from a position of clearance, in which position they receive the bottles to a position of pressure, in WhlCll position the caps are applied to the bottles, by the capping mechanism shown and described in applicants co-pending application Serial No. 750,289, filed February 24, 1913, from which the present applicat1on has been divided. After the caps are applied to the bottles the supports 1 are returned to a position of clearance and while in this position the bottles are removed from the supports.

In order to automatically load the bottles upon the supports the machine is provided with a rotary bottle transferring device (F gs. 1 and 3) comprising a bottom plate 5, (Flg. 3) and a top plate 6 (Fig. 1) joined together by a hub 7 (Fig. 3). The plates are provided with a cooperating series of bottle engaging arms 8 having reentrant curves shaped to hook about the body of a bottle. The hub 7 is carried by a vertical shaft 9 the lower end of which is journaled in a table 10 and the upper end of which is ournaled in a casing 11 which is removably secured to the table 10 by a locking device 12, (Fig. 1).. The lower end of the shaft 9 is provided with a gear 13, (Fig. 1) which is driven by a gear 14 on a shaft 15 journaled in the table 10 and casing 11. The shaft 15 is driven, through a worm gear 16 on the shaft,-by a worm 17 on a horizontal shaft 18 journaled in the machine frame. The shaft 18 is driven from the power shaft capping mechanism operates, the machine is provided with a curved arm 27, (Fig. 1) arranged to press the bottles against theirassociated abutments. The arm 27 is jointed to a second arm 28 which is pivoted on the casing 11. The arms 27 and 28 are yieldingly held in operative position and to this end the arm 27 carries a pivoted rod 29, arranged to loosely pass through the arm 28, about which rod, and interposed between the upper end of a Z-shaped bracket 30 having one foot arranged to embrace the rod and the other foot secured to the arm 28, is a spring 31. The arm 28 is also acted upon by a spring 32 which is held within a chamber 33 adjustably carried by the casing 11.- During the operation of the capping mechanism the bottle is held between the support 1 and capping head and is thus prevented from tumbling from the support. As soon, however, as the capping head and bottle support separate the bottle is left under control of the abutment 26 until removed from its support in a manner to be presently described. A wall 34 formed on a casing 35, which is removably secured to the table 10 by a locking device 36, (Fig. 1), may be utilized to assist the abutment 26 in maintaining the bottle in, its support, but in practice this wall is placed a sufficient distance from the center of the bottle support to admit of the passage through the machine of either pint or quart bottles.

The bottles may be fed from the front of the table 10, which position is herein called for convenience a storage station, to a position adjacent the transferring device, which position is herein called for convenience a transferring station, either by hand or automatically, preferably the latter.

To prevent more than one bottle being locacated at a time at the transferring station the passage connecting the storage and transferring stations-is closed at proper times during the operation of the machine by doors consisting of a yielding door 37 and an oscillating door 38 (Figs. 1 and 3).. The door 38 is provided with a Wedgeshaped foot 39 which automatically wipes the bottles into the arms 8 as fast as they pass through the passage. In this connection it will be observed that While the wedge-shaped foot 39 is actuated to present the bottle which has entered the transferring station into a position to be engaged'by one of the arms 8, the door 38 has been moved into position to close the passageway between the stora e station and the transferring station. he passageway between divided the two stations is normally open, so that the bottles may be fed directly into the transferring station from the storage station at all times except during the times when the wedge-shaped foot 39 is actuated to present a bottle intothe path of movement of the arms 8, at which time the door 38 is positioned to prevent the ingress of more bottles. The door 38 is pivotally mounted on the hub 7, (Fig; 3). To oscillate the door 38 the hub 7 loosely carries an arm 40 connected at 41 to the table 10. Intermediate its ends the arm 40 carries a pivotally mounted bell crank lever 42 one arm of which is formed as a dog 43 arranged in the path of movement of a series of actuating lugs 44 carried by the plate 5. The dog 42 is normally held in the path of movement of the lugs 44 by a spring 45 coiled around a rod 46 pivotally and loosely connected respectively to the bell crank lever 42 and the arm 40 and interposed between shoulders 47 and 48 formed on the arm 40 and the rod 46. The bell crank lever 42 is also yieldingly, connected to the door 38 by a spring 49 coiled around a rod 50 loosely and pivotally connected respectively to the door 38 and a bell crank lever 42. This construction permits the door 38 to yield in the event that it is oscillated to close the passage connecting the storage and transferring stations at a time when the passage is blocked by a bottle in the manner illustrated in Fig. 3. To prevent a bottle being jammed and broken between the door 37 and the pointed end of one of the transferring arms 8 the door 37 is pivotally connected to; the casing 24 and is normally held 'in position by a spring 51 coiled around tle support without agitating the contents of the bottle, as the impulses imparted to the bottle to increase its speed of travel are into two separate 7 movements neither of which is sufficient to shake the contents of the bottle. a

In order to automatically remove the capped bottles from the bottle supports a wall 54 on the casing 24 is interposed across the path of movement of the capped bottles. This wall is curved so as to sweep the bottles from their supports in the direction of the arrow, ('Fig. 4). To deaden the shock .on" the bottle as it is engaged by the wall 54 a buffer ma be provided pivoted intermediate its ends upon the -casing 24. The buffing end of the buffer is held in the path of movement of the bottles by a spring 56,

one end of which is secured to the casing 24 and the other end of which is connected to the buffer. A pin 57 on the casing 24 limits the movement of the buffer under the influence of the spring.

In order to transfer the capped bottles along the wall 54 and deliver them to. a runway 58, which conducts the bottles out of the machine, the machine is provided with a series of eight pushers 59, (Fig. 4). Each pusher comprises a pair of arms 60, (Fig. 5) secured to a rock shaft 61 journaled in a post 62 formed on a carrier 63 which is secured to the upper face of a gear 64. The carrier and gear are journaled upon a stationary rod 65 carried by the table 10. The

gear is rotated by a gear 66 secured to a vertical shaft 67 the lower end of which is journaled in the table 10 and the upper end of which is journaled in the casing 35. The shaft 67 is driven, througha worm gear 68 on the shaft 67, by a worm 69 on the horizontal shaft 18, (Figs. 1 and 5).

In order to permit the pushers 59, which are actuated by the gear 64 at the same speed as the pushers 8, that is, one-half the speed of travel of the bottle supports, to sweepthe bottles, removed by the wall 54, along the wall at the same speed as that at which the bottles traveled. when on the bottle supports the stationary rod 65 carries a cam 70 (Figs. 4 and 5) .the periphery of which is engaged by rolls 71 one of which is carried by each of the upper ones of the arms 60. During the rotation of the carrier 63 each roll 71 rides over a rise 7 2 formed on the cam 70. This rise throws the pusher associated withthe roll from 'a position permitting the capped bottle to pass the pusher to a position where the pusher engagesthe capped bottle as at A, Fig. 4. After the pusher engages the bottle the combined action of the gear 64 and cam 70 actuates the pusher to travel at the same speed as the bottle support which causes the bottle to be swept from the support and along the wall 54 to the point B. at the same speed at which the bottle traveled when upon the bottle support. vFrom the point the speed of travel is gradually reduced by the action of the cam 7 0 so that the bottle only travels from the point B to the point C in the same time that it took the bottle to travel from the point A to the point B. At the point C- the traveling bottle gently engages the file. of bottles in the runway after which the file of bottles is pushed along the runway by the pusher. During this movement the last bottle in the runway travels from the point C to the point in the same time that it took the bottle to travel from the point B to the point C. At D the pusher leaves the bottle. Vith this construction and mode'of operation the bottles are removed from the hot- .on the pusher is engaged by a crescentshaped cam 73 (Fig. 4) secured to the under- 75 side of the casing 35. This cam prevents the pushers from turning prematurely on their pivots and thus be projected into the path of an approaching bottle.

In operating the machine, the bottles are pushed onelby. one through the narrow passage connecting the storage and transferring stations. As the bottle enters the passage it is pushed by the foot 39 into a position where it may be engaged by one of the arms 8. If the bottle is caught between the doors 37 and 38 as the latter is actuated in a direction to present the bottle to one of the arms 8 and to close the passage the door 38 yields as it strikes the bottle. If the bottle is caught between the end of one of the pusher arms 8 and the door 37 the latter yields to permit the bottle to escape without breaking. When the bottle isengaged by an arm 8 is transferred to the empty bottle, support upon which it is held by the curved arm 27 which yieldingly presses the bottle against the fixed abutment 26. The capping mechanism now operates to cap the bottle. The capped bottle is then removed from the support by one of the pushers 59 and the empty support completes its cycle of move ment returning to a position where it receives-another bottle from the transferring device.

It will be. clear to those skilled in this class of machines and with the general objects of the present invention in view, that changes may be made in the details of structure, the described and illustrated em- 110 bodiment thereof being intended as an explanation of its underlying essentials, the features whereof are definitely stated in their true scope in the claims herewith.

What is claimed as new, is 11 1. A machine for handlin bottles, having, in combination, a traveling bottle support, and a transferring device traveling at half the speed of the bottle support arranged to pick up a stationary bottle and 12 deliver it directly to the bottle support, substantially as described.

2. A machine. for handling bottles, hav" 'ing, in combination, a traveling bottle sup delivery of the bottle to the runway, sub stantially as described.

3. A machine for handling bottles, having, in combination, a traveling bottle support, a transferring device traveling at half the speed of the bottle support arranged to pick up a stationary bottle and deliver it directly to the bottle support, a runway, and a second transferring device operating to transfer the bottle from the support to the runway traveling at the same speed as the bottle support at the time of its engagement with a bottle on the support and at a reduced speed at the time of its delivery of the bottle to the runway, substantially as described.

4. A machine for handling bottles, having, in combination, a bottle support arranged to travel in a circular path, a runway for conducting thebottles out of the machine, a well arranged to intersect the path of travel of the bottle and remove it from the support, mechanism for transferring the bottle along the wall to the runway, and means for operating said transferring mechanism to transfer the bottle for a time at the same speed at which the bottle traveled when on thesupport, and there,- after to gradually reduce the speed of travel of the bottle to permit the bottle to gently engage the file of bottles in the runway, substantially as described. 7

5. A machine for handling bottles, having,in combination, a stationary'rod, a gear journaled thereon, a carrier secured to the gear, a series of rock shafts journaled in the carrier, a pair of arms secured to each rock shaft, a roll connected toone arm of each pair, and a cam secured to the rod engaging the rolls, substantially as described.

,6. A bottle capping machine, having, in

combination, a series of bottle supports, and means for holding the bottles on the supports before the operation of the bottle capping mechanism comprising fixed abutments mounted on the bottle supports, a jointed arm pivotally mounted on a stationary part of the machine, and separate yielding means acting upon the sections of the arm, substantially as described.

7. A bottle capping machine, having, in combination, a traveling bottle support, means for moving said support at a definite speed, means for supplying said" support with bottles by an accelerated movement of the bottles, and means for delivering bottles from said support by a retarded movement of the bottles, substantially as described.

8; A bottle capping machine, having, in combination, a traveling bottle support, a bottle transferring station, to which bottles are fed, means for transferring bottles from said station to the support by an accelerated. movement, a runway, and means for delivering bottles from the support to the runway by a retarded movement, substantially as described.

9. A bottle capping machine, having, in combination, a traveling bottle support, means for moving said support at a definite speed, and means for automatically handling bottles passing through the machine comprising mechanisms for accelerating their speed ofmovement while supplying them to the support, and gradually retarding their speed ofimovement while delivering them from the bottle support, substantially as described.

ERASTUS E. WINKLEY.

Witnesses:

l/VILLIAM HELMER, FRED V. HAR'r. 

